If this was a typical Sunday morning, I’d report that The One I Love, the latest quirky quasi-comedy exec-produced by the Duplass Brothers, had a solid but not scintillating debut weekend at the specialty box office. But this has not been a typical Sunday morning. When I opened my email from RADiUS-TWC, I found not only their theatrical box office results for The One I Love but also the film’s VOD numbers. Wow!

The combined numbers arrived with no fanfare, just honest transparency. RADiUS deserves kudos for being a trailblazer here, and I at least want to make sure this moment is duly noted, and with enthusiasm. The company has given me non-theatrical metrics before, but to give it alongside theatrical is a first, and something unique that I hope quickly becomes common.

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So what exactly is the information that Radius is providing here? The big digital players provide real-time...

pavement pounder

6 months

in UK and USA it would be great to at least see unit sales for VOD, if...

Measuring VOD/digital revenues is not like theatrical. It can’t be tabulated in the same way. That has been an argument against reporting numbers because measuring them against weekend box office is a slippery slope. It’s perhaps a valid concern, but these numbers should be made available in some fashion too, to give everyone a more complete picture of how small films are faring in the marketplace in their first weeks of release.

The TWC label, whose business model is predicated on dual-platform releases, has been by far the most transparent company operating in a distribution model that remains an enigma. Today, it pulled the veil back further than ever. That is a first for anyone and RADiUS gets my respect. Independent filmmakers deserve this.

So, on to the numbers themselves: The One I Love - written and directed by Charlie McDowell - bowed in 8 theaters this weekend, grossing $55,126 for a $6,891 PTA. Of course, that is only part of the story, because it also made just over $500,000 on VOD. The film has been available on demand since Aug. 1 “with no fanfare,” according to RADiUS. The company said it “pointed all of its promotion and advertising towards the theatrical release.”

“With great critical support and the tireless promotional efforts of (cast members) Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss, Ted Danson and director Charlie McDowell, The One I Love opened at the top of most theatrical engagements,” said RADiUS’ Quinn. “Simultaneously, it’s also racked up a very impressive half million dollars on VOD. This genre-bending Sundance favorite could be poised to break out as a late-summer hit. Interestingly, the film is currently both the #1 Romance and #1 Sci-Fi film on iTunes. That’s a testament to how truly unique and brilliant this film is.”

On a typical Sunday, when I would only receive theatrical numbers, I likely would have written that the film had opened OK at best. But when you add in another $502K on VOD, that’s a very different equation. Giving perspective on what this means is difficult because not everyone releases their films’ VOD/digital numbers, despite my regular requests to distribs. The holdout companies tell me they give those numbers to individual filmmakers, and I believe them. But those VOD numbers are important, and they should be made publicly available like theatrical box office is. Some studios have said, “Why should we tell you?” Producing a movie is a challenge at best. But it’s crazy not to have a macro perspective on a film’s financial success that includes a potentially substantial income source from an increasingly important distribution platform.

By the way, RADiUS also gave VOD numbers for Snowpiercer on Sunday, saying it has now passed $6 million on VOD alone. Theatrically, in its 9th week, the sci-fi action film by Korean director Bong Joon-ho and starring Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton and Jamie Bell grossed just under $27K in 28 theaters, for a theatrical cume of just over $4.43M.

Elsewhere in the theatrical box office world, Sony Classics opened Ira Sachs‘ well-received Love Is Strange in 5 theaters in L.A. and New York in very solid form. It grossed over $126K for a $25,310 PTA. This film stars Alfred Molina, John Lithgow and Marisa Tomei in a heart-warming story about a gay couple facing the travails of living in NYC. It is more “accessible” than his previous film Keep The Lights On, which was also well received despite being a more challenging sell. That film opened with an $11K gross in five theaters via Music Box Films in 2012, cuming just over $246K in the U.S. Love Is Strange should have a long life ahead.

“Great opening, there’s no movie that is more timely out there,” said SPC co-president Michael Barker S. “Ira Sachs is a director about feelings and detail.”

Barker said that the film attracted women and gays in particular, and drew from across the board in the age bracket, though it skewed older. Love Is Strange will head to a dozen cities next week and will hit its widest reach in the next four to six weeks. Barker also touted Woody Allen’s Magic In The Moonlight, saying the film has had solid numbers and holds well during the week. He said it will go over $10 million. It grossed over $1.33M($1,692 PTA) this weekend and has cumed over $6.8M to date.

IFC Films added 7 runs for The Trip To Italy in its second frame, holding well with a $114 gross and an $11,400 average in ten theaters. The film opened last week in a trio of locations, grossing over $71K for a $23,859 PTA. It will head to the top 20 markets Labor Day weekend. The distributor’s summer hit Boyhood continues to mature with gusto. It grossed $1,864,360 in 734 theaters, averaging $2,540 (after $2.15M, $2,789 PTA last week in 771 theaters). It has now cumed $16,526,408.

“The film continues to do very well in Art houses and specialty venues across the country,” Searchlight said in a statement. “We are still expectant that we will reach a broader audience as we slowly continue to roll out Calvary. The reviews have been very good for this dark comedy — and thriller — and word of mouth has been excellent for this film, which was written and directed by John Michael McDonagh and stars Brendan Gleeson as a good priest who is being targeted by a killer.” Calvary will add more locations next weekend.

7 Comments

Bounder • on Aug 24, 2014 1:32 pm

Watched “The One I Love” on VOD two weeks ago and it was really fantastic. Starting to realize if a lot more indies took that route, I’d end up seeing a lot more a lot sooner (ie. “Calvary,” the Ira Sachs flick, etc.), especially now that there’s not much on TV.

Kudos to Weinstein indeed for releasing those VOD numbers. More studios need to do this. Warner Bros. could take a page from them and release their Veronica Mars numbers. Come on already! It’s been long enough. They should have done so in the first place but they could at least do it by now.

What exactly are they measuring for VOD. Point of sales (rental) from cable companies VOD services? iTunes rentals? Netflix (and the like)?

pavement pounder • on Aug 24, 2014 1:32 pm

in UK and USA it would be great to at least see unit sales for VOD, if companies are squeamish about sharing $ figures. and in the meantime all hail Radius – this is a positive move for the industry.

An Insider • on Aug 24, 2014 1:32 pm

So what exactly is the information that Radius is providing here? The big digital players provide real-time sales info but the problem with the space is that the cable infrastructure is so antiquated that even the biggest players don’t have the data until many days (almost a week) later. Rentrak is the only source of this information for cable VOD rental and they don’t provide a full picture until almost a week after a movie has premiered. So either the data isn’t entirely accurate or it’s an estimate.